To say that Hilary Swank was slumming it when she decided to sign on for 'The Reaping' might be a bit of an understatement, considering her long roster of Oscar-worthy performances. Sometimes, though, what might be considered out of one's league actually makes for a nice fit; Swank is no stranger to the thriller genre ('Insomnia' and 'The Gift' are among her credits), and as Katherine, an investigative scholar who spends her time debunking religious miracles, she manages to draw us into the story of this surprisingly entertaining film. When Katherine is called upon by a Louisiana local (David Morrissey) to draw her own conclusions about mysterious occurrences that are being compared to the ten Biblical plagues, she automatically lapses into auto-pilot, determined to prove her theories as science as a result of losing her religious faith years ago. But things are never that easy in movies like these, and while Katherine might think that she can explain everything away... well, you can figure it out, I'm sure. **

Let's face it: the Devil has been done to death in the movies these days. Seems like every time you turn around, movie audiences are being subjected to stories of possession, demonic rebirth, and brimstone brought about by Lucifer himself. 'The Reaping' is no exception to this parade of hellfire, but considering that it doesn't try too hard to emulate other, better films before it, it actually winds up being pretty entertaining, besting the likes of last year's remake of 'The Omen' in terms of tension and well-crafted atmosphere. Director Stephen Hopkins knows he's mining familiar territory here, and try as he does, he does not succeed at originality. But through Swank's personable performance, some tightly-knit moments of suspense, and a setting that is used to the film's full advantage, 'The Reaping' actually manages to keep one's attention. ---

Image and Sound:

'The Reaping' is presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.40:1, and is VC-1 encoded on this HD-DVD. Warner Bros. has been very strong with their new releases in terms of image quality, and this presentation is no exception. Small objects and shadow detail are terrific, especially in long shots, with no signs of edge halos or artifacting. There is some slight noise in very dark scenes, but it doesn't really take anything away from the experience. Colors are robust and blacks are solid, and contrast is almost perfect throughout. OVerall, this is one transfer that is sure to please. ***

The audio is presented in lossless Dolby TrueHD, and considering that this is a horror thriller, there is much fun to be had with this track in many places. The track has a nice balance between score, sound effects, and dialogue, and all are recorded nicely and sound very natural. The surrounds get a nice workout during the more intense moments, especially when bugs or fire from the sky come into play. Atmospherics in the swamp scenes are total 360-degree heaven, with sounds coming at you from every direction. Imaging and channel separation aren't exactly given the hardest challenge here, but when called upon, perform admirably. It's not something you'll be using to show off your sound system (that's due more to the subject matter than the track itself), but rest assured, this track is a winner.

N Although it wasn't really successful at the pre-summer box office, 'The Reaping' is getting a fairly decent collection of special features to accompany the stellar video and audio. First up is the featurette 'Science of the 10 Plagues,' which, like the movie's main character, makes the argument that the Biblical plagues can all be explained away as scientific phenomena. Although I do have my own beliefs about what happened thousands of years before our time, I find this differing point of view interesting, and its explanations are solid. We then move on to 'The Characters,' a small piece which includes interviews with Hilary Swank, producer Herb Gains, writer Brian Rousso, and others. Basically, this is a fluff piece that goes over the characters and the story, told from the viewpoint of those who brought it all to life; only die-hards need apply. ***

'A Place Called Haven' takes us behind-the-scenes into the town where the movie tells its story; it's interesting to see how welcoming these small-town residents are, especially when compared to big-city shoots. The conversion of the old Southern mansion is a nice touch as well; nothing like using the real thing when making a movie. 'The Reaping: The Seventh Plague' is a very short piece featuring footage of the locusts used for the scene involving the Seventh plague. Rounding out the extras is 'AnnaSophia Rob's Scary Story', a short story written by the young actress during production; while I won't be completely mean, I will say that Ms. Robb should stick to acting.

Final Words: